# @ahs_gardening on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DZ5U8F0E_h5
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/67147845-ahs-gardening-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/7afa1d6fb2.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-06-22T16:59:38.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** American Horticultural Society | American Gardener Magazine (@ahs_gardening) — https://gondola.cc/ahs_gardening

## Caption

*NATIVE PLANT OF THE WEEK*⁠
Fivespot (Nemophila maculata, Zones 0–0)⁠
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Native to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, this prostrate California annual loves the cool weather of spring and will shine until the heat of summer. Though its roots are in the west, fivespot can also be grown in other parts of North America.⁠
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Why Grow It⁠
• Forms mounds 6–12 inches tall and 12 inches wide⁠
• Small, scallop-edged green leaves⁠
• White, 1-inch bowl-shaped flowers have contrasting purple spot on each petal⁠
• Blooms profusely from May–July⁠
• Attracts bees, butterflies, and other pollinators⁠
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Growing Tips⁠
• Easiest to grow in place from seed⁠
• Sow in fall for spring growth⁠
• Well-drained soil⁠
• Sun and minimal to no watering needed in cool regions⁠
• Part shade and light watering during dry spells in warmer regions⁠
• Leave plants after they decline in summer to allow them to set seed; may naturalize⁠
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Design Tips⁠
• Sow in front of borders and in rock gardens⁠
• Grow in containers and hanging baskets⁠
• Sow in swaths for an annual groundcover⁠
•  Include in pollinator gardens⁠
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Did You Know…⁠
The purple spots on the flowers serve as guides for pollinators.⁠
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Read about fivespot and other native western annuals in “Taming California’s Wildflowers” in the January/February 2015 issue of The American Gardener, available in the magazine archives at ahsgardening.org.⁠
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#nativeplants⁠
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Photos (all iNaturalist)⁠
Lorri G. (closeup)⁠
Chris Shuck (with California poppies)⁠
Ecologito (detail with leaves)⁠
Adam J. Searcy (in field)⁠
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## Tags

nativeplants

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